Secondary education in Scotland

Secondary education in Scotland takes up to 6 years, covering the ages 11 to 18, from S1 to S6. It is not compulsory after the age of 16, the age of majority in Scots law.

Note: Some ages vary because of the child's birth year.

In Scotland, students transfer from primary to secondary education at either 11 or 12 years old. Pupils usually attend the same secondary school as their peers, as all secondaries have 'intake primaries'. Pupils either attend a Roman Catholic, or non-denominational school according to their family's beliefs. Pupils in Scotland attend the same secondary school throughout their education; there are no sixth-form colleges in Scotland.

The first and second years of secondary school (abbreviated to S1 and S2) is a continuation of the Curriculum for Excellence started in primary school, after which there is no set national approach. S3 is still considered to be with the Broad General Education (or BGE) phase; however some schools allow students to start to narrow which subjects they wish to study, with certain compulsory subjects such as English and Mathematics. In S4, students undertake 6-9 subjects called Nationals, and at this stage, students tend to be presented at levels 3-5. Nationals should take one year to complete, with National 3 and 4 having no external exam. Some National 5 qualifications, such as Physical Education, also have no external exam. With the exception of higher, some S4 pupils will take a class which could be a higher class but this doesn't happen often.

After these qualifications, some students leave to gain employment or attend further education colleges; however these days most students study for Highers, of which five are usually studied. These take a year to complete, after which some students decide to apply for university or stay on for S6, where other Highers are gained, or Advanced Highers are studied. Due to the nature of schooling in Scotland, undergraduate honours degree programmes are four years long as matriculation is normally at the completion of Highers in S5 (age 16-17), which compares with three years for the rest of the UK. As well as instruction through the English language, Gaelic medium education is also available throughout Scotland.

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